CHARACTERISTICS AND DISTRIBUTION OF LAKES 631 
Lake WinnipegOSis, lying to the north of Lake Manitoba, at an 
elevation of 828 feet above sea-level, is about 130 miles long, by 20 
miles in maximum breadth. It covers an area of 2080 square miles, 
and has a maximum depth of 38 feet. It is fed by many small 
streams from the west, and by the overflow of Lake Dauphin (840 
feet above sea-level) through Mossy River. The outlet is by the 
very indirect wav of Waterhen River, through Waterhen Lake, to 
Lake Manitoba. The total area of the lakes in the Winnipeg basin 
is 13,500 square miles. 
Lake Wollaston, 1300 feet above sea-level, is the ultimate source River 
of the Reindeer River, one of the chief tributaries of the Churchill 
River. It is about 800 square miles in area, and discharges by two 
outlets — to the north by the Stone River into the extreme eastern 
arm of Lake Athabasca, and to the south-east by the Cochrane 
River into Reindeer Lake. 
Reindeer Lake, 1150 feet above sea-level, is 135 miles long, and 
has an area of 2490 square miles ; the Reindeer River carries its 
overflow to the Churchill River. 
The rivers in Labrador are often like strings of lakes, and divide River Rupert, 
and unite again in their course, while the lakes frequently discharge 
in two directions. 
Lake Mistassini, 1350 feet above sea-level, the largest lake, is 
practically two parallel lakes divided by a range of islands in the 
centre. The western lake is 90 miles long by 13 to 17 miles wide, 
and the eastern lake is 60 miles long by 5 to 10 miles wide, the 
greatest depths being 300 to 400 feet. The lake drains by Rupert's 
River into James Bay. 
Lake Kaniapiskau, 70 miles long by 20 miles broad, 1850 feet River 
above sea-level, is the source of the Koksoak or South River, which 
flows into Ungava Bay in Hudson's Strait. 
The principal stream in the Arctic drainage area is the Mackenzie River 
River, the catchment basin of which is only separated by a low and 
uncertain watershed from the Winnipeg basin. The Finlay and the 
Peace Rivers form the longest of the tributaries, though the Athabasca, 
rising farther south, is usually regarded as the main upper branch of 
the river. Lake Athabasca,^ Great Slave Lake, and Great Bear Lake, 
three of the largest of the many great bodies of water which lie along the 
edge of the Laurentian plateau, are tributary to the Mackenzie River. 
^ The figures for the areas of these lakes are taken from the official Atlas 
of Canada, 1906. 
